Sugar Free Me

So at the end of September, my mom announced that she would no longer be partaking in concentrated sugar treats. I agreed that this sounded like a good plan, and that I, too, would be taking on the same mission. I'm a big fan of experimenting with how food affects me. I've gone a month without caffeine a couple of times. I've gone a week gluten free. At one point, I did 3 days of low carb. (Let me tell you, that wasn't pretty.) I don't eat red meat at all and haven't in 6 years due to an allergy.

Of course, this isn't the first time I've attempted to cut back on sugary things. This is the first time that I decided to stop eating them altogether. I went in without a plan other than to just skip it. I had no timeline of how long I would keep at it which is somewhat usual for me. I have a general guideline in my mind that if it is a dessert or if it is something that contains more than 10 grams of sugar on the ingredients list, I don't eat it. No cookies, no cakes, no flavored lattes.  I'm still eating apples and oranges which both contain sugar. You get the idea.

At first it was rough. The first few days, my body was not happy. It seemed like no matter what I ate, it wasn't satisfying. Logically, I had no desire to consume the sugary items, but it was almost like there was something missing from my life. To me, that was proof that sugar has some addictive qualities.  Of course, I'm not the first person to say that.  The big difference now is that I know how it feels.

It is now November and still no concentrated sugar. Mom and I are both still standing strong. I survived Halloween without even one piece of candy. Strangely, it seemed easy. Thanksgiving is next. One of my favorite Thanksgiving treats is pecan pie. This year I will be eating the pecans without the the pie. I am beginning to wonder if this is going to be a lifestyle change for me. It really wasn't in my plan to be, and I hope to live a very long time so it's hard to predict. That said, it feels great to be able to say no to sugar. I also seem to be craving healthier fare now that I've cut out the sugar. I'm not sure where the strength is coming from... but it feels like a gift.

Mom says farewell to the sweet stuff. We walked into and out of the Hershey store 

without eating one piece of chocolate.